Hej hej, America.. again

Today is the day- I head back to Denmark for another four months in lovely Copenhagen!  While I'm super excited about this, it is also kind of bittersweet.  This weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to visit my friends at Stonehill (and as we speak, I'm sitting alone in the cafeteria while my friends are all in class).  It was so great being able to see everyone and catch up even if it was just for a little bit, and I even got to attend the annual "Snowflake Soiree" which is our semi-formal winter dance.  Also, coming back from being abroad makes you a small campus celebrity which I enjoyed mostly for the fact that I got lots of hugs.. just ask my roommates from last semester how much I LOVE hugs.

Amy & me before the dance

Look!  It's Dave-who-we-visited-in-Florence!

The lovely ladies who adopted me for the weekend and gave me a comfy floor to sleep on :)

Going abroad has really made me appreciate my home at Stonehill and the friends I have here.  It's the place that encouraged me to go abroad, gave me the opportunity to stay another semester, and the place where I met friends who encouraged me to go for it.  I realize that coming here the weekend before leaving again might make this second adjustment a little harder (especially because Amy won't be with me this time around), but I know that going back to Copenhagen is the best thing for me and an opportunity that is once in a lifetime.  This spring, I'll be missing some of my friends' last semester of college, but I'm so happy I got to come and say hi.  They'll have their own semesters and their own memories, and so will I.  

I'm so excited to meet all my new housemates and see what my classes have in store for me.  Everyone moved in yesterday, and I can't say that I'm not jealous that they're already experiencing that amazing city.  Even though I'm familiar with the city, I can't wait to experience it again this semester through new eyes.  This time it really will be for good, and anything that I might have put off first semester will definitely get checked off the bucket list.  Similarly, I can't wait for a familiar (not to mention delicious) cup of coffee from The Living Room, some soup from SoupaNatural, and a pastry from St. Peder's.  

There is so much to look forward to, including traveling to Turkey with the Migration & Conflict program, seeing my friend Mike who already has plans to visit Copenhagen in just 10 days, and all the little surprises along the way.  I didn't think I'd get nervous the second time around, but I think it finally hit me today.  I'm sitting here with some major butterflies in my stomach and saying some last goodbyes. I can't believe I'm leaving for the airport in AN HOUR and that I'll be back in Copenhagen early tomorrow.  

Until May, hej hej America!